I am going to show you the difference between the various fabrics that we carry. A lot of other companies also carry these fabrics so it does not matter whether you order them from us or somewhere else.
- Lycra
The first one that I am going to show you is the Lycra. This is just our flat matte Lycra. There is a mild sheen to it when it is under the lights but not a lot. Something that you are going to want to look for is that it is super stretchy and very comfortable to wear.
- Shiny Lycra
The next fabric I am going to show you is our Shiny Lycra. I picked the same color dye for both the regular Lycra and the Shiny Lycra but you can see that the fabrics are slightly different because of the different sheens to them. The way I like to describe the difference between the regular Lycra and the Shiny Lycra is to ask you to imagine that in your house you have flat paint on your walls but in the doorway, the door sills, you have an enamel paint that is the same color but is shiny. The difference between the two, that low sheen and the high sheen, that is the difference between regular matte Lycra and the Shiny Lycra.
- Cotton Lycra
Next, I am going to show you the Cotton Lycra. This is red cotton. It is a very different color. It is hard to see the texture on the camera but it basically has a T-shirt look to it. The Cotton Lycra is perfect for Hip Hop or a street look, something that is kind of dressed down. It is perfect for dance class, things like that. It is a cotton blend with Lycra in it but it is mostly cotton. So it is going to give the item a completely different look. I would say the difference in the look is between bathing suit fabric and T-shirt fabric. Since it has Lycra in it, it is nice and stretchy.
- Holographic Fabric
Now, I have our Holographic fabric. Some people call it our liquid fabric because it has a lot of shine to it. This sample is Red Red. The reason it has two names is because the back of it is red and the dots on the front are red. It has little teeny foil dots all over the front of that fabric that you do not see unless you look close. This gives it a kind of metallic look. We have some Holographic Fabrics that have an orange back or a black back with blue dots. That is why the name has two colors. One is the background color and the other is the top color.
- Mesh
Our mesh is the next fabric that I am going to show you. Our mesh floats like Chiffon and is sheer like Chiffon and it is amazing to work with. It has the stretch like Lycra but it has the additional benefit that you do not have to hem it or fold over the edge. You can just cut the fabric and it will not ravel. With Chiffon, if you cut the edge, you have to turn it and hem it. Otherwise, it will fray. Mesh will not fray! Let’s say you want to change the hem or the hem design. With the mesh, you can easily cut the edge and it has a beautiful nice hem that you do not have to sew.
- Lace
Our Lace has a beautiful pattern to it. With the fabric placed against the wall, you can see the beautiful lace pattern. There is mesh in between the clusters of lace flowers and it has a four way stretch to it.
- Velvet
Last, we have our Velvet. Our Velvet has a different luster to it and a different feel with a heavier look to it. It works really well if you want a Winter look. We used it in our Chipmunk costume video where we wanted to simulate fur feel to it without having to use actual fur. We used the Velvet for that texture. Our Velvet is also a four way stretch fabric. The thing about Velvet is that it stretches but does not stretch as much as the other fabrics. Consequently, if you are ordering an article made with Velvet and you are almost to that next size or right at the next size, go up a size. If you are at the bottom of the size’s range, you should be fine. It will feel a little bit more constricted than the other fabrics so if you do not like a tight feel, move up to the next size.
One thing you need to remember is if you are using Velvet is you want to make sure that the patterns are all cut in the same direction. The reason for that has to do with the direction of the nap. If you rub the fabric, you will notice that rubbing it one way will give you a very smooth feel and rubbing the other direction it has a rough feel to it. Therefore, you want to make sure that all the pattern pieces are cut the same way; If you have a top where it feels smooth going down and then you rub the pants in the same direction but it feels rough, the top and the pants will look like two completely different colors even if they are cut from the same bolt of fabric. When you are looking for a velvet item or fabric, that is a really, really important thing to notice because even if the item or fabric is in black it will look like it is two different colors and two different dye lots if the nap is going in different directions on the different .
General Notes
Four Way Stretch
All of our fabrics have four way stretch. Some of you may wonder what I mean by four way stretch. A four way stretch means that if you pull the fabric with both hands in one direction, it will stretch and then also pull the fabric using both hands in another direction it will also stretch in that direction.
Care of Fabrics
With all of our fabrics, I always suggest that you hand wash and line dry them. The fabric or item will last a really long time with that extra care. I have washed them in a machine on gentle and placed them in the dryer and they were okay. But, if you want to keep them lasting, I definitely suggest that you not machine dry them and hand dry them instead, especially with the mesh and the lace. If you ever throw these products in hot water and then machine dry them and find that they shrunk up a little, just steam them out and use a little Downey Wrinkle Release on them and you should be able to stretch them back out. But, again, with any of them if you want them to last a long time, it is best to hand wash and line dry them.
If you have any questions about any of our products, feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email. We are happy to help you.
